


Facing The Boggart

by Anonymous



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 23:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30012468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Theo struggled to face his fear, because how can you make something ridiculous out of something tragic?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Theodore Nott
Kudos: 10
Collections: 2021 DBQ Round One: Boggart





	Facing The Boggart

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [TheSlytherinCabal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSlytherinCabal/pseuds/TheSlytherinCabal) in the [DBQ2021Round1](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/DBQ2021Round1) collection. 



> Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me but are the property of J.K.R. and Warner Bros. No copyright infringement is intended. The theme for this round of the competition was Boggart and my chosen pairing was Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott. Comments/Reviews are encouraged by The Slytherin Cabal's Admin Team on all stories in Death By Quill, but comments left by readers are set to be moderated by story authors until the end of the competition in order to protect participants' anonymity. Thank you to my beta for their time and help.

_September, 1985_

“Theo! Come find me!” His mum’s cheery voice echoed through the corridors of the big house. 

The afternoon sun cast shadows throughout the sitting room as Theo looked around the furniture trying to find her. 

“Mummy! Where are you?” he sang out while he searched for her hiding place. 

Spotting her shoes poking out from under the drapes, he grinned to himself, and slowly crept up to them. The tassled cord dangled in front of him, and with a lunge, he grabbed it, yanking the drapes aside. 

“Found you!” But what he found was only a pile of throw pillows atop her shoes. There was no sign of his mum. 

She’d tricked him!

“Boo!” His mum popped out from behind the sofa, startling him. 

“Mummy!” he shrieked as she picked him up and swung him around. He giggled at how silly she was being. They fell to the floor, landing on top of the heap of pillows and breaking into laughter.

He loved his mum's laughter, it was one of his favorite sounds in the whole world. He hugged her tight and laughed along with her. 

* * *

_September, 1989_

Theo ran down the corridor at Malfoy Manor, trying to catch up with Draco. Since his mother passed away, he didn’t feel like playing much anymore. He didn’t even really feel like talking most of the time. Luckily, talking was all Draco seemed to do, and so Theo could often just nod along. 

As they scampered further down the corridor, Draco prattling on about his latest toys, they heard a thudding noise that stopped them. Curious, they looked around. 

“What do you think that is?” Theo asked.

Draco pointed to the door on the left side of the corridor where the sound was coming from. “I heard Father say something about a Boggart. I bet it’s in this room. We should go have a look!”

“Aren't they ... scary?” Theo thought back on the stories he’d overheard. 

“Theo, we aren’t filthy Muggles who are afraid of little things. Besides, I already know what to say to get rid of Boggarts.” 

Hesitantly, Theo agreed. “If anything happens, it’s on you.” 

Theo followed Draco into the room. The armoire on the far side of the wall shook violently. Something was definitely in there. Fear crept into his bones. He tried to tell Draco to stop, to wait, but before he could get the words out of his mouth, Draco reached for the latch on the armoire door. 

The shaking stopped as the door slowly opened, Draco hiding behind it, trying to peer around into the shadows.

The thing that walked out was the very last thing Theo thought he would ever see again. 

There in front of him stood his mother—face bloated, wet hair dripping, skin wrinkled—exactly as he’d last seen her when they pulled her out of the pond. 

The grotesque face opened her eyes and glared at him. “It’s all your fault, Theodore!” 

Theo froze, completely unable to move. His heart thudded in his chest. With hands clenched at his sides, his fingernails dug into the palm of his hands. Tears clouded his eyes, and he began to sob. 

**“** Ridiculous **!** Ridiculous **!”**

He could faintly hear Draco saying the same word over and over again, but it was no use, she wouldn’t go away. She began to walk directly towards him. 

All of a sudden, he felt Draco tugging on his shirt. When he wouldn’t move, Draco grabbed onto his arm trying to pull him away. Theo, still with his eyes rooted on the image of his mother, noticed her face distorting even more, the flesh oozing off. She began to look more like Draco’s mum, with blood pouring down her face from a wound on her head. 

“Help! Help! Father!“ he heard Draco cry, before Lucius raced into the room with his wand drawn.

* * *

_September, 1993_

Draco and Theo rushed into the staffroom where the Defense Against the Dark Arts class had been taken, trying to avoid being seen sneaking in late. No one noticed them because everyone was facing the rear of the room, where a loud thudding noise came from a large wardrobe. 

The hairs on the back of Theo’s head immediately stood up. He paled, and looked at Draco, the only one who would know why. 

Draco’s face was grim as their eyes connected, and they took seats in the back.

_“So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form.”_

Lupin’s voice confirmed Theo’s fears and he began to shake, his eyes fixed on the closed wardrobe doors.

“I don’t think I can do this.” The whisper just barely carried to Draco’s ears. 

“Theo, we were already late getting here, you won’t be able to just leave.” 

“ _He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door_ ,” Lupin continued speaking to the class. 

“Draco, _we_ know what my fear is. We’ve seen it. I don’t—I don’t want to see it again...” Theo just managed to stammer out. 

“Maybe your fear has changed,” Draco offered, trying to be helpful. “It’s been years since we were little kids.” 

_“Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out…”_ _  
__  
_As Lupin inched closer to the wardrobe, Theo felt his stomach begin to roll. Bile gathered in the back of his throat.

“Merlin, Theo, you’re sweating.” Draco glanced at him with worried eyes. 

“Last time we faced one of these, your father had to come save us,“ Theo pointed out, while desperately trying not to remember.

 _“_ — _he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears.”_

“We were kids then. We’re older now, and we have our wands this time.” Draco casually lifted the wand held tightly in his grasp. 

The wardrobe door popped open and out stepped Severus Snape. 

Theo looked on in horror as his classmates before him each had a turn with the Boggart. The room was alternately filled with fear, and then raucous laughter as each of his peers faced their fears and triumphed. 

His heart began to race as his breathing shortened, certain he was going to fail. 

It finally came his time to step forward and cast the Riddikulus charm. Theo stood unmoving in front of the Boggart, clutching his wand tightly in his hand, his fingernails digging into his palms. 

She looked exactly the same as last time. Her body swollen with water, matted hair around her face, her skin shriveled up. 

Theo’s heart pounded an unsteady rhythm in his chest and his breathing turned rapid. He tried to think of something funny, but his mind was blank. All he could do was stare into her eyes as she blamed him again and again for her death.

He held his wand tight, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do _anything_.

He barely registered that Draco had moved beside him and the creature began to change.

* * *

Theo was finally able to even out his breathing. He lifted a hand to rub at his chest where his heartbeat was also beginning to slow. He noticed the rest of the class had filed out, and after looking around, saw Draco still standing next to Professor Lupin. The corner of Draco’s lips were pressed together, a crease between his brows as he stared defiantly at Lupin. 

Theo nodded his head in recognition of what Draco had done for him, and stepped out of the classroom. He didn’t travel very far, waiting just outside the door for Draco, so he could apologize for getting him in trouble.   
  
As Theo slouched against the brick wall, he could overhear Professor Lupin scolding Draco.

 _“_ I do understand why you got in the way of Mr. Nott when it was his turn. But the point of my lesson, Mr. Malfoy, is for each student to face their own fears.”

“You don’t know anything about Theo.”

“I know more than you think,” Lupin gently corrected him.

“You can’t possibly understand.” Draco’s arrogant voice was dismissive, and Theo silently agreed with him. No one could understand.

“I know that the woman we saw in class today was his mother.”

At the mention of his mother, Theo felt a sharp pain in his chest. He pushed the fear back down. That creature wasn’t his mother. She was beautiful and light, not that horrible mess with a creepy voice blaming him for being unable to find her sooner when she’d gone missing. 

“Then you should know there isn’t a way to make your mother dying into something funny,” was Draco’s sarcastic response.

There was a brief moment of silence. Theo strained to hear what Lupin would say to that.

“You’re right, Mr. Malfoy, there is no way to make such a thing funny.” Theo thought he could hear Lupin sigh. “We try to make our fears ridiculous because that is the easiest way to make us laugh, and laughter is what defeats the Boggart. Ridiculous things are not the only things that make us laugh, however. Mr. Nott needs to figure out for himself what the source of laughter is that he needs to defeat his fear.”

Theo took the pause in the conversation to reflect upon what Lupin just said. He still didn’t think he’d ever be able to find anything about his mother’s death to be funny.

“I expect you to conduct yourself properly in my class going forward. That will be all Mr. Malfoy.” 

A moment later, Draco came around the corner to find Theo still standing there.

With an unspoken agreement neither Draco nor Theo mentioned what had happened. 

* * *

Theo once again stood in front of the wardrobe, the rest of the class watching behind him.

Professor Lupin asked quietly if he was certain that he was ready. 

He wasn’t, but there was no other choice. He was already the last one to go. So he gave a slight nod of his head, and in response, Lupin opened the wardrobe door. 

The same thing that had happened in the previous class happened once again. His mother walked out, exactly as the other times. This time, though, he was more prepared to see that beloved face colorless and bloated with water, her long curly hair plastered to her wrinkled skin.

The corner of Theo’s mouth was drawn downward, his eyes wet with moisture. He blamed himself for the fact that his most vivid memories of his mother were of when she died. He wished that he could see her as he remembered her at her best; happy and _alive_. 

He could faintly hear the ghost of her laughter from the past. 

Recalling what Lupin said to Draco, it suddenly dawned on him what he needed to do. 

“Riddikulus!” He called out. 

Instantly, she changed. His mother stood there, skin glowing, with a big wide smile on her face. A pile of throw pillows and a pair of shoes were at her feet. 

“Boo!” she yelled.

Theo burst into laughter. The students around him were not amused by the sight before them, not understanding what they were looking at. Theo didn’t care though. He’d always loved her laughter so much. He could hear it so clearly in his head, the memory of the two of them. He kept laughing to savour the moment. It was exactly how he wanted to remember her. 

Theo felt a tear streak down his face, and the grief and the love that he felt just made him laugh harder. He had finally defeated his fear, and with a last crack, the Boggart disappeared into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke.

**Author's Note:**

> Italicized dialogue is quoted directly from Remus Lupin in the Prisoner of Azkaban book/movie.


End file.
